Card carrying case

ABSTRACT

A carrying case for credit cards and the like comprising a plurality of resilient frame members pivotally mounted within the case, the resilient characteristic of the frame members causing deformation thereof when a card is not positioned therein, and abutment means in the case positioned to obstruct swinging movement of a frame member into the case if no card is positioned in said frame member, whereby the case cannot be closed unless all frame members therein have a card positioned therein.

United States Patent Kirshenbaum et al.

[54] CARD CARRYING CASE [72] Inventors: David Kirshenbaum, l5 Hemalin Road, Cranston, RI. 02910; Anthony J. Iorlo, 126 Cottage Ave., North Providence, R.I. 02908 221 Filed: Aug.21, 1970 21 Appl.No.: 65,783

U.S. Cl "206/139, 206/1 R, 220/31 S Mar. 14, 1972 3,107,999 l/l962 Cano ..2l l/40 2,261,806 ll/l94l Hills ..312/9 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 984,056 2/1965 Great Britain ..2l l/40 Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Steven E. Lipman Attamey-Salter & Michaelson [57] ABSTRACT I A carrying case for credit cards and the like comprising a plurality of resilient frame members pivotally mounted within the case, the resilient characteristic of the frame members causing deformation thereof when a card is not positioned therein, and abutment means in the case positioned to obstruct swinging movement of a frame member into the case if no card is positioned in said frame member, whereby the case cannot be closed unless all frame members therein have a card posi- 1,613,414 1/1927 Schickerung ..206/39 timed therein 2,546,470 3/1951 Mueller ....206/62P 2,601,101 6/1952 Derham ..220/31sx 10Claims, l2DrawingFigures I L I I 1 l l 76 l l I I L v 34' l I 2 fag \11 I 1 L m {I 52 l {1 l *1 l r'74 'i 1 1M 7a 72 5'0 :\4O

PAIENTEDMAR 14 I972- SHEET 1 [IF 2 I 5 I 2 I INVENTORS DAVID KIRSHENBAUM ANTHONY J. lORlO F l G. 3 ATTORNEYS PATENTEDMAR 14 I972 3. 648 832 sum 2 OF 2 INVENTORS 9a 30 DAVID KIRSHENBAUM F I 6. l2 ANTHONY J. IORIO ATTORNEYS CARD CARRYING CASE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Card carrying cases are broadly not newly in the art, but with the recent advent of credit cards, and the tremendously increased usage of such cards, certain problems have arisen. Reference is made to the fact that when a credit card is lost or misplaced, the finder may attempt to illegally use said card before the owner notifies the proper party of its loss, thus putting the .owner in a position where a claim may be made against him that he is liable for purchases surreptitiously made with his lost, misplaced or stolen card. One of the prime reasons for a credit card being lost or misplaced is that when it is used, it is necessary to remove the card from the carrying case or wallet in which it is carried by the owner so that the card can be used to stamp the purchase. In many cases the owner neglects to replace the card in its carrying case or wallet, or even forgets the card entirely, thus promoting the aforesaid loss or misplacement ofthe card.

Conventional credit card holders, whether it be a special case, or a regular wallet, do absolutely nothing to overcome this problem. Expressed differently, the conventional carrying means for credit cards and the like functions as nothing but a carrying means, and affords no warning or reminder to the owner if a card has not been replaced in the case or holder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a card carrying case primarily designed for credit cards and the like wherein the case cannot close if a credit card has been removed therefrom and not replaced, thus serving as a dramatic warning and reminder to the owner that a card is missing.

In carrying out the above objective, we provide a carrying case having hinged base and cover portions within which are pivotally mounted a plurality of card holders. Each card holder is in the nature of a resilient frame which due to its resilience automatically assumes one configuration when a card is not positioned therein, but which is deformed to a second configuration when a card is inserted therein. Abutment means are provided in the case, which means physically obstruct any frame that does not have a card therein, whereupon the frame cannot pivotally move into the base or cover section of the case, as a result of which, the case cannot be closed. If, on the other hand, each frame member within the case has a card therein, the frame members are deformed to a position wherein they all clear the abutment means so that the frame members may easily be swung within the confines of either the base or cover sections so that the case may be closed.

Means are also provided for permitting each card holder or frame member to accept the different standard size credit cards without in any way adversely affecting the aforesaid operation of the case.

Thus, as previously stated, it is a primary objective of the instant invention to provide a carrying case for credit cards and the like wherein the case cannot close if a card has been removed from the case and has not been replaced.

A further object is the provision of a carrying case of the character described wherein the case may be constructed to contain any desired number of credit cards and wherein different size credit cards may be accepted.

Another object is the provision of a carrying case of the character described wherein virtually all parts of the case are of molded plastic construction and are easily assembled, thus resulting in a product that is economically feasible to manufacture, but which nevertheless is durable and foolproof in operation.

Other objects, etc.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a card carrying case embodying our invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof showing the case in open position with cards positioned in the holders;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing one of the sections of the case with no card in one of the holders;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section, on an enlarged scale, showing the rear portion of the case with the cover in open position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view, on an enlarged scale, showing the case in closed position, with the side wall removed for purposes of illustration;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, showing the front portion of the case, with the case in closed position;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, but with the bottom card removed from its holder;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIGS. 6 and 7 but with the nextto-top card removed from its holder;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary elevational view, on an enlarged scale, of at the inner edge of one of the resilient leg portions. FIG. 10 is a fragmentary section, on an enlarged scale, taken through the back portion of one of the frame members;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view showing the hinged mounting of the various frame members; and

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the outer surfaces of the base and cover portions, with the case in open position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings, a case 10 is shown comprising a cover portion 12 and a base portion 14. Cover portion 12 comprises front wall 16, side walls 18, rear wall 20 and top wall 22. The base portion 14 is similarly constructed and comprises front wall 24, side walls 26, rear wall 28 and bottom wall 30. Both the cover portion 12 and base portion 14 are preferably of molded plastic construction and said portions are hingedly attached to each other by means of hinge pin 32 which extends transversely across the rear of the case at the junction of back walls 20 and 28. More specifically, cover portion 12 is provided with a pair of integrally formed barrels or pintles 34, while base portion 14 is provided with similar integral barrels or pintles 36, which barrels receive pin 32 therethrough to effect the desired hinging of the cover portion with respect to the base portion. Spring means 38 are provided on pin 32 for normally urging the cover portion to open position and snap latch 40 is carried by base portion 14 at its front wall 24, which latch is resiliently received in the depression 42 formed in the front wall 16 of cover portion 12. It will be understood that latch means 40, 42 are merely illustrative and that any suitable latch means may be employed for maintaining the case in closed position against the action of spring 38.

Pivotally mounted within the case 10 on pin 32 are a plurality of card holders 44. Each card holder 44 comprises a frame member having spaced legs 46 to the other at the innermost ends of the latter to form a substantially U-shaped configuration. The legs 46 and crossmember 48 are grooved along their inner periphery as at 50 so as to provide a trackway for slidably receiving a card 52. At the outer extremities, the legs 46 are rounded on one side of groove 50 as at 54 solely to facilitate slidable insertion of the card 52 into the holder. To further facilitate slidable insertion of each card into its holder, the leading edges of legs 46 are beveled as at 56 (FIG. 9) and likewise the inner opposed edges of crossmember 48 are beveled as at 58 (FIG. 10).

It is important to note that legs 46 are normally urged inwardly toward each other, as illustrated in FIG. 3, but due to the inherent resilience of the legs, when a card 52 is inserted therein, the legs are spread outwardly with respect to each other to the position illustrated in FIG. 2. As previously mentioned, the card holders 44 are each pivotally mounted on pin 32 and to this end each card holder is provided with a pair of spaced integral barrels or pintles 60 extending rearwardly from rear crossmember 48. Thus, barrels 60 extend from the topmost frame member 44 visible in FIG. 3, while barrels 62, 64, 66 and 68 extend respectively from the other four frame members, it being noted that in the illustrated embodiment of the invention a total of five cardholders 44 are shown in case 10. The barrels or pintles 60, 62, 64, 66 and 68 are necessarily offset so as to permit assembly on pin 32 without interferring with each other, and it will be understood that the holders 44 may be swung outwardly from within the confines of cover portion 12 or base portion 14 to permit access to the cards mounted within said holders, so that the desired card may be removed when desired;

Detent means 70 are provided in groove 50 of each leg 46 adjacent the outer end thereof to releasably maintain card 52 in assembled position therein. As will be noted, detent means 70 comprises nothing more than a slight jog or offset in the groove 50 and it is important to note that when a card 52 is inserted in its holder 44, the outer edge 72 of the card is spaced inwardly from the ends of legs 46. Since credit cards traditionally embody the same width, but sometimes embody a different depth, a second pair of similar detents 74 are provided in groove 50 so as to engage the smaller size conventional card, such as the card 76, to releasably maintain said card within its holder.

In order to prevent the case from closing when a card is not positioned within each holder 44, abutment means 78 are provided on the inner surface of front wall 24 of bottom portion 14, said abutment means preferably being integrally molded on said wall, and extending for the height thereof, but having a notched portion 80 at its upper end, as shown most clearly in FIG. 7. Similar abutments 82 are provided on the inner surface of front wall 16 of cover portion 12, the abutments 82 also extending for the entire depth ofthe wall 16 and having projecting portions 84 adapted to seat within notches 80 when the case 10 is closed, as seen most clearly in FIG. 6, it being understood that the abutments 78 and 82 are in alignment with each other so as to interengage when the case is closed. As will be noted in FIG. 2, the abutments 78 and 82 are located just inwardly of the inner edge of legs 46 adjacent the front ends of the latter, when the holders 44 have cards mounted therein. If, however, a card is removed from one of the holders 44, the inherent resilience of legs 46 causes the legs to pring inwardly, as illustrated in FIG. 3, whereupon the square end portions 86 of legs 46 overlie the abutments, as shown in FIG. 3. Since, as aforesaid, all of the abutments extend for the entire depth of their associated front wall, it follows that if any one card is removed from its holder 44, the case will not be able to close due to the fact that the portion 86 of the empty holder 44 will obstruct the interengaging action of lug 84 and notch 80 that necessarily takes place when the case is closed. FIG. 7 illustrates what happens if the bottom holder has no card therein, it being noted that none of the holders can move into the base portion 14 since the portion 86 of the bottom holder 44 is impeded by abutment 78. Similarly, FIG. 8 shows the situation where the next-to-top holder has no card therein, it being noted that the bottom three holders are now free to move within base portion 14, but the top portion 12 cannot close all the way because the portion 86 of empty holder 44 engages abutment 82 to prevent further downward movement of cover portion 12. It will be understood that if a case is provided to a user having five holders 44, as per the illustrated embodiment herein, dummy cards can be positioned within the holders that do not have credit cards, since obviously there must be some sort of a card in each holder to permit the case to close.

In order to make the case 10 more versatile, a billfold or money clip 88 may be secured to the upper surface of top wall 22, it being understood that billfold 88 will have a top flap 90 and a bottom flap 92, the latter of which is secured by any suitable means to the top surface of wall 22 (Fig. 12), Any suitable means, such as Velcro fastening means 94 may be utilized for releasably maintaining flap 90 in closed position. On the outer surface of bottom wall 30 an additional card holder 96 may be provided, said holder having a pocket 98 for slidably receiving any desired cards.

It will therefore be seen that all of the aforesaid objectives of the instant invention have been fulfilled in that a carrying case for credit cards and the like has been provided wherein if a card is removed from its holder, it becomes impossible for the case to close, thus serving as a dramatic warning and reminder that a card is missing. At the same time, the base and cover portions of the case may easily be molded of suitable plastic construction and the same is true of the holders 44. Thus the only non-molded part of the basic case 10 is the hinge pin 32. It will therefore be apparent that the case 10 is simple and economically feasible to manufacture and that assembly of the case may be easily effected, since it is only necessary to align the barrel portions carried by the cover and base of the box along with the barrels carried by the holders and then slidably insert the pin 32 therethrough to complete the assembly. Of course, it is conceivable that the various barrel portions could be split rings that snap on to hinge pin 32 if desired. Also, although five holders 44 have been shown in the illustrated embodiment of this invention, it will be apparent that case 10 may be suitably dimensioned so as to receive any desired number of holders without in any way effecting the aforesaid operation and concept of this invention.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described.

What is claimed is:

l. A card carrying case comprising a base portion having a bottom, side, front and rear walls defining a housing for receiving a plurality of cards, a cover portion attached to said base portion and movable between an open and closed position, a plurality of card holders pivotally mounted within said base portion and swingable from a position within said base portion to a position outwardly disposed therefrom for removal of the cards, said card holders each comprising a deformable frame member for receiving a card, said member assuming a first configuration when a card is positioned therein, and a second configuration when there is no card therein, and abutment means carried by said base portion, said means being positioned so as to clear said frame members when the latter have cards therein whereby said frame members may be freely swung back into said base portion, but to obstruct swinging movement back into said base portion of any frame member that does not have a card therein, whereby said cover portion may not be closed if all frame members do not have a card therein.

2. In the case of claim 1, said frame member comprising a pair of spaced resilient legs that receive said card therebetween; said legs normally being biased inwardly toward each other to define said second configuration, said legs being forced outwardly with respect to each other when a card is inserted therebetween to define said first configuration.

3. In the case of claim 2, said legs each being grooved to define a track for slidably receiving said cards, said tracks having detent means for releasably maintaining said card in its frame member.

4. In the case of claim 3, each track having a plurality of said detent means for maintaining different size cards within said member.

5. In the case of claim 2, said frame members each having an integral portion joining said legs at their inner ends to define a generally U-shaped configuration, a hinge pin at the rear of said case hingedly mounting said cover portion to said base portion, said integral frame portions each having an integral pintle extending therefrom and rotatably engaging said pin to effect the aforesaid pivotal mounting of said card holders.

. tegrally formed on said base portion.

. 9. In the case of claim 1, said cover portion having a similar construction to said base portion, whereby said card holders are positioned within both portions.

10. In the case of claim 9, the abutment means in both said cover and base portions extending for the full depth of said portions.

* l l t l 

1. A card carrying case comprising a base portion having a bottom, side, front and rear walls defining a housing for receiving a plurality of cards, a cover portion attached to said base portion and movable between an open and closed position, a plurality of card holders pivotally mounted within said base portion and swingable from a position within said base portion to a position outwardly disposed therefrom for removal of the cards, said card holders each comprising a deformable frame member for receiving a card, said member assuming a first configuration when a card is positioned therein, and a second configuration when there is no card therein, and abutment means carried by said base portion, said means being positiOned so as to clear said frame members when the latter have cards therein whereby said frame members may be freely swung back into said base portion, but to obstruct swinging movement back into said base portion of any frame member that does not have a card therein, whereby said cover portion may not be closed if all frame members do not have a card therein.
 2. In the case of claim 1, said frame member comprising a pair of spaced resilient legs that receive said card therebetween; said legs normally being biased inwardly toward each other to define said second configuration, said legs being forced outwardly with respect to each other when a card is inserted therebetween to define said first configuration.
 3. In the case of claim 2, said legs each being grooved to define a track for slidably receiving said cards, said tracks having detent means for releasably maintaining said card in its frame member.
 4. In the case of claim 3, each track having a plurality of said detent means for maintaining different size cards within said member.
 5. In the case of claim 2, said frame members each having an integral portion joining said legs at their inner ends to define a generally U-shaped configuration, a hinge pin at the rear of said case hingedly mounting said cover portion to said base portion, said integral frame portions each having an integral pintle extending therefrom and rotatably engaging said pin to effect the aforesaid pivotal mounting of said card holders.
 6. In the case of claim 2, said legs being longer than the depth of said cards whereby when a card is inserted between said legs, the end portion of said legs extend beyond the edge of said card, said abutment means being located adjacent the inner edge of said leg end portion.
 7. In the case of claim 6, there being a pair of said abutment means, one for each leg.
 8. In the case of claim 6, said abutment means being integrally formed on said base portion.
 9. In the case of claim 1, said cover portion having a similar construction to said base portion, whereby said card holders are positioned within both portions.
 10. In the case of claim 9, the abutment means in both said cover and base portions extending for the full depth of said portions. 